On Monday is the only day this week when it's supposed to be raining...but tomorrow should be OK. So we decide to get a free shower on the way up to the Almagellerhütte and then enjoy some climbing on the Dri Horlini.
At the beginning it seems the weather will hold...but for once the forecast was correct and indeed we get a bit (a lot...) wet on the way up. But the hut is cozy and warm so no problem. In the morning we would expect to see blue sky and possibly lots of sun...but we are only greeted by a very thick fog. You know, that thick that you could possibly cut it with a knife!
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| Playing around on big boulders |
Then we decide to wait a bit to see if it gets any better, and in the meanwhile to repeat a bit of crevasse rescue and other stuff which can always be useful if the shit hits the fan. After more than two hours there is still no improvement...but we at least want to see some sun. So we start walking towards the Weissmiess south ridge (without any equipment). The sun seems to get closer and closer...but we can't see any...and having reached a point where crampons would be needed we decide to go back!
On the way back the sun starts to make its way through the thick fog and eventually by the time we are back at the hut it has almost fully cleared. It still looks like the rocks are a bit wet but because it's still quite early in the afternoon we decide to have a go at the Dri Horlini! We only take what is really necessary and off we go.
Finding the beginning of the route is not that difficult since it's all pretty well marked. The route itself is not totally obvious at the very beginning, but also not difficult to find. We only have moutaineering boots and honestly nothing more is needed to climb here. With rock shoes it would only be more uncomfortable! After some zig-zagging on the beginnig of the route we get on the main ridge and from here onwards the route is really obvious. Never too difficult but also never super easy.
Most of the times quite exposed and sometimes a few relatively tricky moves are needed only protected with nuts or friends. When I say relatively tricky I mean it in comparison with the whole route, not in an absolute sense. There is only one point where abseiling is really necessary, and afterwards the last big gendarme has to be climbed. From the top the views are finally good and in the meantime thanks to the sun the temperatures have become a lot more comfortable than in the early morning. To get down we keep following the now really wide ridge in the direction of Weissmiess up to a point where we get down first on the left and then in a bouldery couloir back on the right (always facing the Weissmiess). Jumping from one rock to the other, which by the way is a wonderful balance exercise we get back to the hut.
And we still have to get down to Saas Grund! From being a lazy day it tunrned out to be a rather long day but at least we felt like we took adva
ntage of the good weather as soon as it became available. The Dri Horlini ridge is really a cool route. Not long and not tiring, but really worth it. It offers some wonderful granite climbing with the right level of difficulty for having proper fun!
On the way back the sun starts to make its way through the thick fog and eventually by the time we are back at the hut it has almost fully cleared. It still looks like the rocks are a bit wet but because it's still quite early in the afternoon we decide to have a go at the Dri Horlini! We only take what is really necessary and off we go.
Finding the beginning of the route is not that difficult since it's all pretty well marked. The route itself is not totally obvious at the very beginning, but also not difficult to find. We only have moutaineering boots and honestly nothing more is needed to climb here. With rock shoes it would only be more uncomfortable! After some zig-zagging on the beginnig of the route we get on the main ridge and from here onwards the route is really obvious. Never too difficult but also never super easy.
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| Exposure!! |
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| It was steeper than it actually looks :) |
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| Typical views on the ridge...but that shadow of the finger on the left was a mistake |
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| The abseil point |
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| Abseiling is somehow always fun |
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| Last few meters on the way up |
Most of the times quite exposed and sometimes a few relatively tricky moves are needed only protected with nuts or friends. When I say relatively tricky I mean it in comparison with the whole route, not in an absolute sense. There is only one point where abseiling is really necessary, and afterwards the last big gendarme has to be climbed. From the top the views are finally good and in the meantime thanks to the sun the temperatures have become a lot more comfortable than in the early morning. To get down we keep following the now really wide ridge in the direction of Weissmiess up to a point where we get down first on the left and then in a bouldery couloir back on the right (always facing the Weissmiess). Jumping from one rock to the other, which by the way is a wonderful balance exercise we get back to the hut.
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| Walking back to the hut |
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